18. Where There’s Forevers.
18
Where There’s Forevers...
Angel Savoie - November 3rd, 2025
“Just the four cupcakes and one raspberry lemon cookie, right?” I ask the customer standing across from me. They nod with a smile, and I finish ringing up their order. “Okay, that will be $13.73. Cash or card?”
“Um, do y’all take Apple Pay?”
“Oh, yeah, of course!” I reply before pushing a button. “You can tap it when ready.”
“Thank you.”
I wait for them to tap their phone against the keypad, and when it dings, the receipt prints. I hand it over and get to work packing their order. I’m done within thirty seconds and hand it over with a smile.
“Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!” They smile, give me another thank you, and then leave the line. I glance at my watch and see it’s time for my lunch break. “Hey, Brenden. I’m about to go to lunch. Y’all got it covered?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he nods before returning his attention to the cake he was decorating. He paused and then quickly turned to me. “Wait, while you’re out, do you think you can drop off these cupcakes at Harrison Jewels around the corner? They’re for Skyler to surprise Londi with, and I told her I’ll have them to her by lunch.”
“Oh, yeah, of course!” I smile, looking over at the solid white box on the counter. “I didn’t even know she ordered anything, but thank you so much for handling it. I won’t be too long for lunch today. I’m just gonna go for a little walk after dropping these off.”
“Okay, take your time!” He smiles. “We can hold down the fort until you come back.”
Katie told the next customer that she could help them as I stepped away from the counter, pulling off my gloves in the process. After discarding them and hanging my apron on the designated hook, I grabbed the box and made my way out of the back door and down the alley that led to the street behind the shop.
Although it was the first week of November, the weather was really nice, and it wasn’t as cold as it had been a couple of weeks ago. The sun was shining brightly, and the wind blew softly, mixing with the scents that spilled from the bakery and the restaurant located a few doors down. Usually, I’d go up to my apartment and chill during my breaks, but I thought today would be the perfect day to go for a quick walk.
As I arrived at the shop, something in the window immediately caught my eye. I stepped closer to the window and admired the silver band that sa t beside an equally beautiful diamond ring. Upon closer inspection, I saw a small ring of opal and pink tourmaline around the diamond, and my heart skipped a beat, recognizing them as the birthstones of October.
“That’s gorgeous,” I say to myself. “God, I would love a ring like that, and the other one screams Phoenix...”
“Hey, Angel!”
I look to my right to see Skyler, the owner's daughter, standing at the door. She waves with a smile, and I return it as she steps to the side, inviting me in. Once inside, I walk over to the display to get a closer look at the two rings.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” She asks, and I nod, placing the box on the counter. “Yeah, they’re from my mom’s newest collection. Here, let me take them out so you can have a closer look.”
“Ooh, thank you!”
The excitement slowly builds up inside me as I patiently wait for her to place the set of rings on the glass countertop. I carefully pick up the band and take time to admire every little detail of it. There were a few diamonds that wrapped around the band and mirrored that of the ring. I don’t know much about jewelry, but I knew this would look great on Phoenix.
“By the way, you know these are engagement rings, right?” Skyler asks, and I look up at her with a nod. “Wait…are you planning to propose to Phoenix?! That’s so…”
She pauses, and her mouth shuts as if she’s rethinking what she was about to say. I look at her, confused, but she just smiles and shakes her head.
“That ’s amazing, Angel,” she nods. She senses my hesitation and looks at me as if she’s confused. “You seem hesitant.”
“I…”
My reply caught in my throat because I wasn’t sure how to reply to that. I loved Phoenix with all of my heart, and I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t been thinking about marrying her a lot lately. I thought for sure that she was gonna ask a couple of weeks ago when she told me she had a surprise for me, but that didn’t happen. Her surprise turned out to be tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway in New Orleans. I was still happy because that’s one of my favorite musicals, but I couldn’t help but feel a little let down that it wasn’t what I expected.
My mind and my heart were conflicted because my mind was telling me that maybe it was too early to be looking at rings. However, my heart was already pulling my card from my purse, even though I hadn’t even heard the price yet. I sighed as my shoulders slumped.
“Honestly, I kinda am,” I admit, carefully placing the ring back in its place. “I want to marry her, but what if I’m moving too fast? It hasn’t even been seven months yet, but all I can think about is how much I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
“But she’s feeling the same, right?” She asks.
“Yeah, she always tells me how she can’t wait to marry me,” I reply. “Honestly, I never thought much about marriage before I met her. I’ve never had the best luck with relationships, but everything with her is so easy. I mean, yeah, we’ve had our riffs, but we’re still here, you kn ow?”
“I do,” she smiles before patting my hand softly. “When Londi and I first met, I knew she was the one for me after witnessing her getting thrown off a horse, but then getting up as if nothing happened. She immediately started joking about how she and the ground had a long-standing relationship. Whole time, her ass is just clumsy, but she’s my clumsy love and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.”
That makes me laugh because there was never a dull moment when it came to Skyler and her wife of ten years, Londi. I’ve heard all the tales of the antics they’ve gotten up to over the years thanks to Londi’s adventurous side. It always made me look forward to all of the years to come with Phee.
“Also, if you ask me, there’s never a ‘too early’ when it comes to love,” she adds. “I believe that we all have our person, or people, like Kentrell and his partners, that just get us, you know? Once you find them, it’s almost as if the regular rules don’t, and shouldn’t, matter. You have to follow your heart, Angel. And no, I’m not just saying that so you can buy the rings.” We share another chuckle. “But seriously, Angel. If you feel it’s time, why wait for her to ask you? The worst thing that can happen is she says no, but let’s be for real. This is Phoenix we’re talking about.”
“You’re right,” I giggle, nodding in agreement.
“You have that woman wrapped around your finger, and I think she’d drop everything to marry you right on the spot if she knew that’s what you wanted,” she assures me. “And if that’s what you want, you should let it be known.”
“It is! I want to marry her so badly that I would go to the courthouse today and sign the papers,” I chuckle. “Yes, I want a wedding, but we can have that later. All I want is her.”
“Is that a promise, Sweets?”
I jump at the voice and quickly turn to see Phoenix a few feet away. I was so busy rambling that I hadn’t even noticed that she’d come into the store. My mouth was wide open as I tried to form a complete sentence to say to her, but as she came closer, all of my words suddenly evaded me. How the hell did she know I was here?
“Not you tongue-tied,” she laughed before pulling me in for a hug. “What are you doing down here, mamas?”
“She was looking at rings. This set in particular,” I heard Skyler say as she pushed the set closer to where we stood by the counter.
I watch as Phoenix’s smile grows wide once she sees the rings. She takes the one with the ring of opal and tourmaline around the diamond out of the case and takes my hand in hers. My heart is thumping a million miles a minute as she slides the ring onto my ring finger and then kisses my hand. She stands there and admires me as I wear it. I stand there in shock when I notice it’s the perfect fit.
“What did I tell you, Skyler? It would look so good on her,” Phoenix says, and my eyebrows furrow.
“Yeah, you were right,” she nods right as her mom comes out of the back. She motions for her to come over. “Hey, Mama. Look at how beautiful your creation looks, Angel.”
Ms. Nancy walks over with a smile as she puts on her glasses. “Yes, it definitely suits you, my love,” she tells me before turning to Phoenix. “ All of the customizations came together so well, Phee. It’s perfect.”
I turn around when she doesn’t reply, and my hands instantly shoot up to cover my mouth when I see her on one knee. My heart was beating fast as tears streamed down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Was this really happening?!
“Phee…”
“Angel Savoie, you know I love you, right?” She says, and I nod. “Well, baby, I’ve known that I wanted to be with you since the first day we met. I knew from our first date that I wanted to marry you. I’m in love with everything about you and everything you are. When I’m down, you lift me up. When I’m sick, you nurse me back to health. Whenever I’m feeling lonely, I know that I never am because you’re always there, and I want to be that for you.”
“I want to sleep beside you and then wake up beside you,” she continues. “I want to be there for you when you’re sad, or stressed, or happy, or moody, all of it. I want to care for you and protect you. I want to watch your favorite shows and listen to you ramble about your interests.” I chuckle through tears, and she smiles softly. “Angel, I love you so much, baby, and I want to make you my wife, so…”
Skyler hands her the box, and my eyebrows furrow once again. When Phoenix opened it, I saw that they were in fact not cupcakes, but instead, one of my strawberry shortcakes. “Will you be mine forever?” was written across the top, and only then did I register that this whole thing had been planned from jump. I could do nothing but cry harder because I had not seen this coming at all.
“You st ole my heart when I tried this cake last year, and I didn’t even know you yet,” Phoenix laughs. “I thought it was only right that it had a special place in this special moment, don’t you think?”
“Yes, yes, I do,” I nod, wiping my tears as best I can.
“Sweets, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife? It would make me the happiest woman alive,” she says. “Angel, will you marry me?”
“Of course!” I squeal and pull her up. “Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!”
Skyler and Ms. Nancy clap as Phoenix pulls me in for a kiss. I was floating in the clouds because I couldn’t believe this was happening. Here I was, stressed that I was moving too fast, but Phee had already planned everything out the whole time, and it was perfect! She made me feel like the luckiest woman in the world, and as I admired my ring, I knew that I was.
“Phoenix, you've got to stop with the surprises,” I whine as we step into the private dining room of one of my favorite restaurants. I could feel the tears beginning to fall again as I took in all the smiling faces of the people around us.
After the proposal earlier today, she convinced me to take the rest of the day off to spend some time together. We didn’t really do much except cuddle and kiss as we watched TV, but I loved every second of it. When dinner time came around, she informed me that she’d made reservations at my favorite restaurant, and I was beyond excited. I wasn’t expecting to walk into a room and be greeted by all my closest friends and family.
“Now, you know that’s not going to happen,” she chuckles as she takes my hand in hers. “I wanted today to be special, so of course I had to invite the most important people in your life.”
“God, I love you so much,” I say as she escorts me to our designated spots at the table. “You know how to make me feel loved.”
“It’s what you deserve, Sweets,” she assures me with a kiss. “Now, how about we celebrate?”
“I’d love that.”
Over the next few hours, we spend time with our loved ones, and it’s almost like there is a permanent smile on my face. Being able to share a moment like this was not something I ever expected to happen. Like I said before, I’ve never thought about getting married, but now I was more excited than ever to take that next step. I knew that this was the right path, and I couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for us.
“Happiness looks good on you, friend.” I jump as Maddox chuckles from my right. I narrow my eyes playfully as he pulls me in for a hug. “Congratulations, Angel. I’m so excited for you and Phee.”
“Thanks, Madd,” I smile as we break apart. My eyes drift over to where Phoenix is joking and laughing with her friends. She must sense me looking because she glances my way and winks before turning back around. I feel myself swoon a little. “God, she’s so fine.”
“Wanna hear a little secret?” I turn to look at Maddox as he leans against the door. I nod. “Last year, after you left, Phee always asked me if I’d heard from you. She was so gone for you, and y’all hadn’t even held a full conversation yet. I knew then that she wasn’t gonna stop until she made you hers.”
“Wait, she was checking for me for that long?” I asked, genuinely surprised. He nodded.
“Then that day that you ran into her outside of my shop, do you know what she said once she finally came in?” I shake my head. “She told me she thought you were the angel her grandpa had sent her. She couldn’t explain why she felt that way, but she said something about your aura drew her in. She believed that you were special and that y’all were somehow meant to be.”
“Sounds like something she’d say,” I giggle.
“Yeah, but of course, I told her she was weird and probably just overly attracted to you, because let’s face it, you’re fine as hell,” he shrugs, and I playfully roll my eyes. “But as time went on, I realized that what y’all had was something more. I see it every time y’all are around each other. I see it every time y’all talk about each other. Angel, I truly believe that y’all are soulmates. You really found your person, and I couldn’t be happier for you.”
“Maddox, please don’t make me cry,” I say as the tears start forming. He chuckles, pulling me back into a hug and rubbing my back.
“What are you over here telling my fiancée that has her crying again?” I hear Phoenix chuckle as we break apart. I move over to wrap my arms around her and rest my head against her chest. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing,” I assure her as I let out a contented sigh. “Nothing at all. Everything’s perfect.”
“Well, in that case, how about we head home to…continue our celebration?” I look up at her and she had that smirk on her face that I’m so fucking weak to. I could feel my body heating up; all I could do was nod. “Come on then, Sweets.”
We spent a few minutes saying goodbye to everyone, and then we headed back to Phee’s place. On the way there, we talked about moving in together, and I happily accepted her invitation to officially move into her house. Hell, that’s where I’d been staying every night for the last month or so anyway. I realized after those few days we were apart after the fire that I didn’t want or need to be away from her. I wanted to be near her whenever I could. Now, I didn’t have to worry because we’d permanently be under the same roof soon. I couldn’t wait.
“I hope you know that I plan on keeping you up all night,” she says as we walk through the door. She locks it and then backs me up against it, her hands gripping my waist. I moan. “You ready for that, Sweets?”
“You know I am, Phoenix.”
Those five words are all it takes for her to pick me up and carry me to the bedroom. I relaxed against the pillows as she began to give attention to every part of my body. I felt at peace, and as I lay there enjoying every orgasm that she gifted me with, all I could think about was how much I loved her.
And how m uch I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.